CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Precipitation was near normal for the month of
October in Illinois, at a statewide average
of 3.2 inches. The long-term average, or normal, for October is 3.26 inches of
precipitation, according to Illinois State
Climatologist Jim Angel at the Illinois State Water Survey, Prairie Research
Institute, University of Illinois.

Most of this precipitation fell in
the last few days of the month. The heaviest amounts were in Cook, Will, and
Kankakee counties along with some areas in far southern Illinois. The largest reported
monthly total was 6.79 inches at Bourbonnais.

Many sites across northern and central Illinois reported
their first snow of the season in October. The highest monthly snowfall total
was at Mendota with 3.5 inches. Several more sites reported 1 to 2.5 inches of
snow for the month.

Temperatures were just 0.3 degrees below
normal with a statewide value of 54.3 degrees. However, the first half of the
month was 5.5 degrees above normal, while the second half was 5.9 degrees below
normal. Most of the state saw temperatures dropping below freezing for the
first time this fall on October 21-22.

“The late October rains were large enough and
widespread enough to help recharge soil moisture after the exceptional dryness
of the last three months,” concludes Angel.

The Illinois State Water Survey
at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a division of the Prairie
Research Institute, is the primary agency in Illinois concerned with water and
atmospheric resources.